The announcement made yesterday by Toshiba according to which production of Writable HD-DVDs will start in the first quarter of 2006 is making many analysts say Sony's Blu-Ray doesn't have too many chances left of winning the market.

Toshiba's main argument for launching the HD-DVD discs is that current DVD production lines require only minor changes to be able to assemble the new discs.

The launching of HD-DVD discs on the market doesn't mean Toshiba won the battle.

The Blu-Ray discs proposed by Sony have a larger capacity than Toshiba's 15GB HD-DVDs which will be launched starting with 2006.

The side that backs Blu-Ray is composed of the majority of PC producers, so, although Toshiba has also promised HD-DVD devices for 2006, it is uncertain who will adopt them.

Sony has another major advantage: Play Station 3. As it has been announced, the new console will include Blu-Ray devices.

Toshiba is playing its last card, gambling it all on being the first to launch HD-DVD, but Sony might have some aces up its sleeve.